Cold Case Homicide Statistics

Breakdown of Homicide Clearance Rates

By Thomas Hargrove

Nearly 185,000 cases of homicide and non-negligent manslaughter went unsolved from 1980 to 2008, according to a Scripps Howard News Service study of the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report. Below are the total number of homicides reported in each state, the rate at which homicides are solved through arrest and the estimated number of unsolved homicides.

Note-1: The number of unsolved homicides was estimated for Illinois and New York since these states provide only partial data for the number of clearances.

Note-2: The total number of homicides in this report is taken from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report and is greater than the totals found in the FBI’s Supplementary Homicide Report. More police departments report UCR data, which is required for departments to qualify for Justice Department grants.

State

Homicides

Clearance

Unsolved

Alabama

11,026

55%

4,974

Alaska

1,256

74%

327

Arizona

9,827

61%

3,791

Arkansas

5,780

82%

1,068

California

82,463

59%

33,456

Colorado

5,198

66%

1,765

Connecticut

4,100

71%

1,203

Delaware

859

72%

244

D.C.

8,066

53%

3,778

Florida

31,715

60%

12,658

Georgia

18,383

60%

7,282

Hawaii

1,128

64%

411

Idaho

937

81%

176

Illinois

25,254

64%

8,974

Indiana

9,485

57%

4,098

Iowa

1,459

73%

389

Kansas

2,865

55%

1,281

Kentucky

5,443

69%

1,670

Louisiana

16,863

64%

6,110

Maine

701

80%

139

Maryland

14,004

66%

4,752

Massachusetts

5,129

61%

2,022

Michigan

23,682

52%

11,367

Minnesota

3,411

60%

1,358

Mississippi

5,502

73%

1,505

Missouri

11,837

73%

3,176

Montana

528

68%

170

Nebraska

1,462

84%

239

Nevada

4,282

63%

1,597

New Hampshire

501

67%

165

New Jersey

11,381

71%

3,326

New Mexico

3,526

65%

1,224

New York

45,740

65%

16,104

North Carolina

16,684

81%

3,155

North Dakota

224

82%

40

Ohio

15,831

65%

5,501

Oklahoma

6,857

83%

1,132

Oregon

3,268

64%

1,189

Pennsylvania

19,517

77%

4,427

Rhode Island

980

64%

348

South Carolina

9,461

77%

2,153

South Dakota

320

80%

64

Tennessee

12,080

67%

3,952

Texas

52,402

71%

15,050

Utah

1,561

73%

424

Vermont

295

57%

128

Virginia

12,932

74%

3,335

Washington

6,234

71%

1,826

West Virginia

2,533

82%

449

Wisconsin

5,051

81%

965

Wyoming

498

89%

55

Homicides and Clearance Rates from 1980-2008

By Thomas Hargrove

Nearly 185,000 cases of homicide and non-negligent manslaughter went unsolved from 1980 to 2008, according to Scripps Howard News Service calculations based upon homicide estimates provided by the FBI.

The rate at which homicides are solved has been declining during the past three decades.

Year

Homicides

Clearance

Unsolved

2008

16,272

64%

5,858

2007

16,929

61%

6,602

2006

17,030

61%

6,642

2005

16,740

62%

6,361

2004

16,148

63%

5,975

2003

16,528

62%

6,281

2002

16,229

64%

5,842

2001

16,037

62%

6,094

2000

15,586

63%

5,767

1999

15,522

69%

4,812

1998

16,974

69%

5,262

1997

18,208

66%

6,191

1996

19,645

67%

6,483

1995

21,606

65%

7,562

1994

23,326

64%

8,397

1993

24,526

66%

8,339

1992

23,760

65%

8,316

1991

24,703

65%

8,316

1990

23,438

67%

7,735

1989

21,500

68%

6,880

1988

20,675

70%

6,203

1987

20,096

70%

6,029

1986

20,613

70%

5,313

1985

18,976

72%

5,313

1984

18,692

74%

4,860

1983

19,308

76%

4,634

1982

21,010

74%

5,463

1981

22,520

72%

6,306

1980

23,040

72%

6,451

Total

565,637

67%

184,992

Notes: This total homicide estimate differs from the counts found in the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report and Supplementary Homicide Report. Those two reports are based upon incomplete data provided by local police departments. The homicide totals and clearance rates presented here are estimated by the FBI, based upon the incomplete reporting. The FBI provides this definition of when homicides are considered to be cleared: “Law enforcement agencies clear or solve an offense when at least one person is arrested, charged with the commission of the offense, and turned over to the court for prosecution. Law enforcement agencies may also clear a crime by exceptional means such as when an identified offender is killed during apprehension or commits suicide.”

The above information was compiled and published in a Special Report by Scripps Howard News Service.